EVENT 30

[sticksandbonesmods]

I CALL MYSELF A SHELL

A USED UP BULLET CASING

The air is cold, the sky dreary. Ever since your return to Aldric’s Grove, the chill in the air is as bitter and sharp as a knife. The scent of stew from the General Store’s windows is comforting, almost as much as the teas Ydalir is handing out if you pass by her tent. Nene puts baskets of her fresh produce on every doorstep or before the doors of people’s rooms in the inn, and Evan and Rillian join her sometimes, the two also handing out sweaters or cloaks. It’s not going to be as bad as last year, but a bitter winter is coming. It’s best to be prepared, isn’t it?

As the winter approaches, plantimals busy themselves to prepare as best they can, too. Pinecone squirrels harvest away nuts while one by one birds move as close to warmth as they can — and that may well just be Sehul and Aurora’s domains. The river water is clear as ever and even colder, with only the blessed trees and bushes still flowering and bearing fruit.

Yet nothing prepares anyone for the green mist, knee-high at the lowest, waist-high at the highest. It smells earthy and grassy, almost floral like a garden,and it pours out of the research hall.

There’s a chill in the air. Something… strange is happening, yet again.

THE AFTERMATH OF SOMETHING LETHAL

The mist is not the only thing that follows. In your homes, walking around the slowly rebuilding town, resting in the inn — all over, there are ghosts, and they all look painfully familiar. After all… it's not every day you get to see your face without a mirror.

Ghosts of the former residents of the Grove have followed where the mist flows, fragments of history that are part of you given form. Some look pristine, like they’d simply gotten up and got dressed like any normal day. Others look bloodied and wounded, clearly killed and still persisting. None seem bothered by their state — if anything, the lot are curious about the changes that have been made to the Grove, or about you.

Of course they know you. They know your pains, the life you’ve lived, they’re part of you after all… though some ghosts know the full extent better than others. You must have something you want to say, don’t you? Or… maybe you’re approached by the ghost of another soul, with something else in mind.

AN ECHO OF INFLICTED EVIL

cw: a brief instance of animal death

Within the heart of it all stands a woman almost eight feet tall, maybe more. There is an unearthly glow to her green eyes, and she wears a black gown that looks like it’s meant for a funeral and a garden party in the same day. Draped in her arm is a basket as she talks to various blooms, and occasionally she may… pluck at a passing by animal, placing a silvery light within the basket as the animal comes to a stop and finds its final rest.

She looks at each resident of the Grove as she walks, poking and pulling at things that cannot be seen — from the air, from the buildings, from you-

And then she keeps on walking, pausing only at the fog barrier.

“... What a troubling scene this sets. And the rot in the roots… beastly, isn’t it? What a shame that I cannot be here in full to set this straight.” She hums thoughtfully, before finally she stops and sits down.

“Come along now, then. I’m sure you all have questions.”

So, will you talk to Morrigan the Lady Death?

... SO COMES SNOW AFTER FIRE ...

With talking to Morrigan comes a task: close the door once more. Once this is done, the Grove settles again, a blanket of quiet settling over the little village finally. Time passes, and once the first snow starts to fall, Heimr calls everyone to the inn. White snowdrops are painted along the banisters, the door frames and windows, and warm spices and savory smells waft through the air.

Renard is dishing up different plates as you come in, and he smiles radiantly with a wave. Later on he might show off some of his creations, or hand you an instrument.

Music flows through the dining room as Ydalir feeds the fire, and some of Callisto’s meads and wines — flavored or simple honey — eventually turn up on the table. It’s nice not to be alone, right?

Unfortunately it might be ruined when Heimr sets out what looks to be a deck for UNO. And a stack of other board games. But UNO is the killer, here. UNO may just ruin your carefully-crafted friendships with everyone here. …please don’t let it do that. You’ve already been through so much together, and there’s so much more to come.

Spark Notes

summary

A USED UP BULLET CASING Fall is here and winter is fast approaching. The residents of the Grove are trying to help take care of player characters after the past two months of hardships... but one night, a green mist spills out of the Research Hall.
THE AFTERMATH OF SOMETHING LETHAL All throughout the Grove, the ghosts of your past lives linger waiting to speak to you- or to the ones you love. They know your life, though the intimate details may vary, and can be touched. And linger they will! They're very curious, you know.
THE ECHO OF INFLICTED EVIL Morrigan the Death wanders the town, poking and prodding at the magics in play. Whatever she's found, however, they have decided can wait. After all, you probably have questions, don't you?
... SO COMES SNOW AFTER FIRE ... After the Door to the Afterlife has been closed- presumably by you, someone's got to do it- and Morrigan has presumably also left, Heimr decides it's time for another community meal. And this time, he brought board games! Please do not kill each other over Monopoly.

out of character

Welcome to November! Thank you very much to Jami for allowing us to use their past life plotting and location for this event, and to Aspen for helping facilitate it ICly!. This has been a long time coming, and now you get to meet another force of nature: Death!

AC will be check-in for November and December before resuming regularly. September and October are the last TDM of the year, and we encourage you to reuse them as desired if current players wish to test new characters, or if new players want to break the ice! We check the TDMs regularly.

updates

Any potential updates, such as characters damaging something important or whatever else, will be put here.

submissions

❖ Questions
❖ November Plotting
❖ Past Life Plotting (Closed to Game Members)
❖ Investigations

code

Comments

[outofsynth]

[He doesn't pull away from Ryan's hand, though his breathing does falter at the contact. He knows he isn't the Min-Gi that this Ryan's so in love with, but he is still a Ryan, and hearing him talk that way about someone who was supposedly him once a time leaves him with confusing feelings. Especially mixed in with the far less flattering comparison to Ryan's younger brother.]

Platonically. Obviously.

[Obviously.]

How do you say that stuff about him so easily? The Ryan I know is great at talking without having to think about it too, but I've never been good at that.

[chickenchoicejudy]

[Sorry, Min-Gi. This Ryan would clarify that it's not meant to be unflattering, but the truth is that his youngest of brothers might actually be a couple of years older than this Min. In other words, it wouldn't help his ego much.

He mercifully doesn't comment further on how obviously platonic it is, and he lets Min-Gi's hand go.]

Hm. I don't think I've thought about it that way before...

[Ryan glances up to the sky as if it might know the answer somehow.]

I'd love to tell you it's rehearsed, but it's really not. I'd also love to tell you I've never said anything that embarrassed my Min-Gi in public, buuuut it's happened now and then. Other than that...it's just never embarrassed me, I suppose? He makes me happy, and I want people to know that. People should know how wonderful he is. He should know how wonderful he is! I never, ever want him to wonder about that even for a second. I want him to feel good and loved!

[If he doesn't say how he really feels, then no one else is going to! It would just live in his head and gnaw on his brain and he has to let those feelings out sometimes.]

I do try and reel it in a little for his sake though. It's easy to catch yourself loving someone the exact way you want to be loved - which isn't bad exactly, but you have to balance it out and listen to your partner's needs too. You know?

[outofsynth]

[It's hard to decide whether the loss of contact is a relief or not. The back of his hand feels bare without Ryan's hand covering it, but at least it's a little easier to breathe, and to think about the answer he's been given. Min nods carefully, considering his words.

His past self is clearly far more comfortable with public affection compared to how he feels, but from what this Ryan is saying he's not completely immune to embarrassment, which means that's a part of him he may never be free of. He's not sure whether that's a good thing or not, but it sounds as though this version of Ryan doesn't mind it as long as his needs are considered by his Min-Gi too.]

I'm not sure how to balance it.

To me it feels as though that kind of stuff should be private. I'm pretty sure I'd feel the same no matter who I had feelings for. My parents care a lot about each other, but they touch each other less in public than Ryan and I do even as friends. I don't think I could ever be as comfortable as you two are.

[It doesn't help that some of his feelings around it are undeniably some combination of fear and shame.]

[chickenchoicejudy]

[The secret is that no one's truly immune from embarrassment, not even Ryan. He just gets embarrassed about different things, that's all.]

I wish I could tell you how, but it's something you'll have to balance out with your Ryan, I'm afraid. But I'm sure that you'll find that balance with him. You don't have to give up everything that makes you comfortable in order to be with someone. It's just not all or nothing either.

[For either of them, really. The present-day Ryan has some growing to do on that front as well. They both have to give and take, and neither of them are really doing it perfectly.

The next tangent seems to be a complete change of subject, but the ghost of Ryan grins at Min.]

Have you heard of binary stars? They're two stars that orbit around each other, caught in each other's gravity. They both push and pull and push and pull, over and over. It's what lets them stay together where they are, forever.

[As a visual aid, he holds out his index fingers pointed in opposite directions and uses his both his hands to spin them and make unbroken circles. It's more complicated than that and his own Min-Gi could probably give a longer talk on the subject and how it works, but the basic understanding is enough to get the point across.]

[outofsynth]

Yeah. I get that.

[Implementing it is another matter. He simultaneously feels as though he's letting Ryan down while also feeling as though he's expecting far too much from him. This Ryan is right though. This isn't something he can resolve with him here and now. It's a separate conversation he needs to have with the Ryan he's trying to navigate being in love with.

Thankfully, Min-Gi is more than familiar with Ryan's apparent subject changes. Even if it had been more subtle he'd likely have seen it for what it was, but this particular analogy... it's not hard to see where Ryan's going with it and how it's relevant to them. Ryan likely recognizes the expression that Min gets when he's embarrassed he isn't familiar with something he's been asked about. While it's less common on his own partner's face now, it was a frequent one back in their school days.]

I haven't. I didn't even know stars could orbit.

[It almost sounds like fiction, but he trusts him not to lie to him. He sounds certain enough that he doesn't even try to rationalize it as a misunderstanding.]

I guess that sounds familiar. Even as friends, that's what it feels like to be around each other. We're so different, but we've always been together. I don't remember a time when people didn't think of us as a pair.

[The memory of the months they'd been apart flickers in his mind, but he doesn't want to bring the tone down more by bringing it up now. That had been a blip in their lives, and one he's determined they won't repeat. They're both their own people, but he only truly feels complete as long as he still has Ryan close by.]

[chickenchoicejudy]

[Ryan holds himself back, but he wants to laugh so much that it evens out to looking terribly amused. Not at Min-Gi himself, it's just shocking to him how little is taught about the sky in the future!

He doesn't want to embarrass him though, because he does remember that sweet face and how much it bothered his own Min-Gi, so he tries to be gentle.]

Lots of things in the night sky orbit something! We're so far away that it all looks still, but the whole universe is moving constantly. Which means it's never boring, not even for a second!

[He doesn't always follow the math or science behind it, but it's hard for him to imagine not being in total awe of the stars. Min-Gi seems to understand anyway though, even without the same enthusiasm. As long as his point got across, that's all that matters.]

Exactly. And it takes a lot of force to push something out of that orbit.

[Or, in a more modern sense - "they're stuck together, so now they're stuck with each other". He can't resolve this for Min-Gi, but he can cheer him on.]

I think you'll both be alright. It might be hard, but you'll get somewhere comfortable. Even if you're uncertain about it, I still believe in you two.

[outofsynth]

[Of course he knows that plenty of things in space orbit. He'd just always believed that stars were static, everything else moving around them. He doesn't argue it though. He doesn't want to spoil the conversation by being defensive when Ryan's been trying so hard to help him. Instead Min nods, trying not to look too put out that he's being educated on something that Ryan makes sound so obvious.

The part he's trying to emphasize is the metaphor, and it is a good one. Min-Gi can see why they see themselves in the stars.]

I hope you're right. He's the most important person in my life. I don't want to mess that up.

[Things have been very different for their past selves, but it still feels reassuring to have his faith.]